In September 2019, motivated by articles from Folha and O Estado de São Paulo, we wrote about the problem that was Sara Kischener Seif’s choice for the current government’s Secretariat of Fisheries, since his family does business in the area. Now, seven months later, The Intercept Brasil shows that a decision of the portfolio directly benefits the company of the secretary’s father, JS Manipulação de Pescados.

Published on May 4, a standard allowed them to double the number of species that can be caught in a specific modality of industrial fishing, made with the so-called Siege Boats. According to The Intercept Brasil, this resolution benefits only two vessels that fall into this category and one of them belongs to the secretary’s father, Jorge Seif.

The report is even more interesting when it reveals that the measure was not signed by the secretary, but by the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina. Marcelo Moreira Neves, Deputy Secretary of Seif Junior, was responsible for the update. It would be an attempt to hide the blatant conflict of interest.

We will not even go into the merit if there was an environmental impact study in this measure. Something that should be standard in any initiative that interferes with the habitat of any animal species. An initiative is already underway to exclude IBAMA from access to the system that tracks fishing boats, one of the mechanisms used to inspect predatory fishing off the Brazilian coast.

From what we have seen so far, the concern with the preservation of the sea is not a commitment of this government. The current Secretary of Fisheries also states that “fish would be intelligent animals and would know how to escape oil stains”, when there was an environmental disaster on the northeastern coast.

Read the full article from The Intercept Brasil.